Momentum Deferred (8 Oct. 2009)

Recuperating from the traumatic and alarming meeting with Massive Dynamic founder William Bell, Agent Dunham consumes a powerful "fringe" concoction that Dr. Bishop prescribes to stimulate ... See full summary »

Director:

Joe Chappelle

Writers:

J.J. Abrams (creator), Alex Kurtzman (creator),

Stars:

Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, Lance Reddick

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Anna Torv	...	Olivia Dunham
Joshua Jackson	...	Peter Bishop
Lance Reddick	...	Phillip Broyles
Kirk Acevedo	...	Charlie Francis
Blair Brown	...	Nina Sharp
Jasika Nicole	...	Astrid Farnsworth
John Noble	...	Dr. Walter Bishop
Roger R. Cross	...	Hybrid
Sebastian Roché	...	Thomas Jerome Newton (as Sebastian Roche)
Theresa Russell	...	Rebecca Kibner
Leonard Nimoy	...	Dr. William Bell
Ryan Mcdonald	...	Brandon Fayette
Aaron Craven	...	Kurt Larsen
Anna Van Hooft	...	Nina's Assistant
James Michalopolous	...	Security Guard (as James Michalopoulos)

Storyline

Recuperating from the traumatic and alarming meeting with Massive Dynamic founder William Bell, Agent Dunham consumes a powerful "fringe" concoction that Dr. Bishop prescribes to stimulate her memory. Meanwhile, the Fringe Division investigates a series of robbery cases that are tied to shape-shifting. As clues are tracked and memories are jogged, another woman experimented on by Dr. Bishop is introduced and a flashback reveals more about Olivia's visit to the alternate reality.

---

Plot Keywords:

severed head | mercury | parallel universe | shot multiple times | reference to medford massachusetts

---

Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

---

Details

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 October 2009 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bad Robot, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

44 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the alternate universe, the hybrids are known as the First Wave. Roger R. Cross, who appears in this episode as a hybrid, was one of the regular cast members of the TV show First Wave.

---

Quotes

Dr. Walter Bishop: [turning to see Charlie behind him] Agent Francis, hello. You alright? You look pale.
Agent Charlie Francis: Yeah. Haven't got much sleep last night.
Dr. Walter Bishop: Oh. I may be able to help you. A little cannabis before bedtime does wonders.

---

Connections

References Sesame Street (1969)

---

Soundtracks

"End Title Theme (Composed by Michael Giacchino)"
(uncredited)
Written by Michael Giacchino

User Reviews

Walter's Closet

This pivotal Episode covers these four arcs: Olivia's trip to Belly's office on the other side, Shape-Shifters stealing Vacuum-Sealed Frozen Heads, Walter's secret relationship with Rebecca Kibner and *her* secret vision, and the Charlie Francis: Shapeshifter saga.

That they made us wait for this episode is a tribute the greatness and cleverness of Fringe: It wasn't just dumped on us in the first episode of Season 2, but rather they further developed the story with little hidden clues: Rebecca's Videotape in "A New Day in an Old Town," Olivia's "Flashbacks" where visions of the "other side" are always red

• Images of William Bell (Leonard Nimoy) imposed over her view of

Peter, and we see flashes of the note Bell wrote that has the name of the Cryonics firm on it - Plus the symbol which represents the "Leader of the First Wave" Thomas Jerome Newton. And once again, we have a Kudos to another series: Sci Fi Channel's excellent "First Wave" in which Shapeshifter Roger C Cross played a role very similar to the one he plays here: A Genetic Clone, Human/machine hybrid much like he was in First Wave as "Joshua."

The Shapeshifter activity in the teaser of this episode hands Walter, Peter and Massive Dynamic a working Shape-Shifter device: Which will reveal the body in which the shape-shifter is hiding. We already know it's Charlie, but can Olivia find out before it is too late?

What do Shapeshifters stealing Frozen Heads, Rebecca Kibner's ability to identify people from "The Other Side," Olivia's Flashbacks, and the Shapeshifter Charlie, guzzling down Mercury from Thermometers have in common? Lots: and You'll have to watch this to find out.

Walter thinks that by asking the older Rebecca (Played by Theresa Russell - Emma Marko from Spiderman 3, the younger version played by Tegan Moss) to repeat an experiment performed by him and Belly when she was 17 which involved massive Hallucinogenics, that they can have her identify who the Shapeshifters are: But even Timothy Leary called them crazy back then. Walter is clearly ashamed of having taken advantage of her. But Rebecca is more than willing to repeat the experience, is even excited about it. It becomes evident, that she and Walter were intimate, as she knows the location of every item in Walter's lab, including "his slippers."

Using Spacial Orientation, they speed up the experiment. At one point, she almost blurts out something about Peter that was being kept top secret from the other characters.

But in the middle of the process, Peter rings a "Bell" which causes Olivia to receive a flood of memories of her meeting with Bell.

Can Olivia get the information to Nina before Charlie can get it out of her? Olivia apparently makes mistakes after she is brought out of the trance, but she was just doing what Belly had told her to do.

In the end, Walter receives solace from Rebecca herself that she was a willing participant in the earlier experiment. And for a second time, she almost blurts out something about Peter that we know, but has not been revealed to the characters yet.

"The Other Side" as we came to know it was still being developed at this stage as it was in Season 1: So views of the other side have to take that into consideration, we see no Dirigibles in flight, and no strange buildings in the NYC skyline other than what ought not to be there in our universe. I always had questioned, was this other side the same as the one that we eventually became familiar with? As the show progressed, the "other side" was given a particular look and feel, which simply hadn't been thought about yet.